In recent college protests across the state, activists have been urging universities to divest relations with companies that have ties to Israel. Alongside that request, students are also asking that their schools cease involvement with the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE).
Housed at Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, GILEE is described as a joint project between the school and local, state, federal and international law enforcement agencies. The program’s website adds that it has focused on anti-terrorism training since being created in 1992 as preparation for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Robert Friedmann, a professor emeritus of criminal justice at GSU and founder of GILEE, previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the 1972 games in Munich, when 11 Israeli Olympians were killed by Palestinian terrorists, inspired the idea for the program. He then teamed Atlanta law enforcement with officials in Israel to share security knowledge prior to the 1996 games.
Since then, police agencies in Georgia and other states have trained with Israeli forces to learn “best practices from expert peers who frequently handle bombings and other terrorist activities,” according to GILEE’s website. Israeli officers have also come to Georgia to learn from local law enforcement.
More than 1,000 public safety officials, mostly from Georgia, have participated in the program in Israel.
“Law enforcement executives learn from experiencing first-hand how others police in a variety of cultures, which fosters growth and enlightenment on new ways to approach challenges at home, enhancing the communities we all live in,” GILEE Associate Director Brent Cummings previously told the AJC.
GILEE has partnerships with other countries, including the Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, Germany, Hungary, The Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, according to their website.
From 2019: GSU program takes policing lessons around the globe
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